We've found out the winner of 2010 Pliny for volcanic event of the year yesterday, so now let's look back at the entire year in volcanic activity. It was a busy year, both for the usual suspects and some volcanoes that erupted seemingly out of the blue.
Here we go, the 2010 Volcanic Year in Review
January 2010
2010 started with the Congo's Nyamuragira having a new eruption that threatened a population of endangered chimps as lava flows issued from a flank fissure vent. We were all also watching one of 2009's busiest volcanoes, Redoubt in Alaska, where seismicity at the volcano kicked up over the New Year. However, Redoubt was quickly lowered from Yellow to Green alert status as the earthquakes waned. Down in Costa Rica, Turrialba had its first eruption, albeit a small one, since 1866. The volcano developed a crack in the summit that had some people worried that larger eruptions were in the cards. If you were gambling type, you might have made some money betting on eventual 2010 Pliny winner, but the runner up, Merapi, still would have done you well at 10:1. We also saw an impressive explosion at Colombia's Galeras that was caught on film. Finally, January saw earthquake swarms at Yellowstone Caldera and Salton Buttes, California. Of course, the Yellowstone swarm had everyone's attention, but with the many swarms at the North American caldera, no eruption followed even as the swarm marched on into February.
